


tremor

by loyaulte_me_lie



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Bravery, F/M, Fear, Natural Disaster, Oneshot, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 04:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5277155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loyaulte_me_lie/pseuds/loyaulte_me_lie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>/or an earthquake strikes in Cato’s life, literally and figuratively.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tremor

**Author's Note:**

> New little series....studying Plate Tectonics in Geography and this is what happens. Other works will be updated at some point. Let me know what you think :) loyaulte xx

When he sits in that chair and Caesar Flickerman smiles with his _brightbrightwhite_ teeth and asks, “So have you ever been scared?” he gives a smile with just the right hint of charming and feral and says, “But don’t you know, Caesar, District Two are _never_ scared.”

“Surely there must have been one time?”

“No. Never.” The lie feels heavy on his tongue, but there are images they have and images they must uphold. When he comes offstage to roaring applause ( _he deserves this, this is his due, this is what he’s been waiting for his whole life_ ), the images flash across his mind. The shaking, the thundering snow, the breath crushed from his lungs and the terrible fear that he’d die under there and no-one would ever find him and he’d never get to do what he’s always dreamed of doing.

Later, when he’s curled up on the sofa with Clove resting her head against his shoulder, he says, “Do you remember?”

“Remember what?” Her voice is frosty, but her skin is warm against his side.

“Nothing.”

“It must be something, Cato, or you’d have never brought it up.”

“The avalanche.”

“Oh yes. That was fucking terrifying.”

“How can you admit that so easily?”

“Admit what?”

“That you were scared.” The word is like nails on his lips.

“Of course I was scared, you lunatic! Who wouldn’t’ve been?” She twists around. Incredulity stares out of her face. “What, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was,” he snaps, irritable. “I just…it’s just District Two isn’t supposed to be scared.”

“That’s ridiculous. We were almost buried alive. We have a complete right to be scared in something like that.” Her eyes have softened, a glacier melting in the fierce spring sunshine. “It’s okay to be scared.”

“It isn’t, though.” She slaps his arm and he raises an inquiring eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re so emotionally stunted.”

“Ouch.”

She ignores him. “It’s okay to be scared because bravery is about overcoming that fear, not about having no fears. It’s not brave to overcome something that isn’t even there.”

Surprise must have flashed across his face, because she leans forward. “So you are brave, because I know you were bloody pissing yourself up on that mountain but you dug yourself out and you got me out and carried me back even though we could hear the other avalanches behind us and it would have probably been safer to radio for help.”

“Why the fuck are you this wise?”

“Is that an actual compliment?”

“Might as well return the favour.”

They subside into silence, but Clove is still looking at him out of the corners of her eyes. She’s kind of pretty, he thinks, in a way that’s all glass-sharp edges and blunt lines, and so he leans forward and kisses her, hard and demanding. There’s no harm in a little fun before masks go down and the killing starts tomorrow.


End file.
